How kidnappers snatched toddler from mother in Imo and police's demand of N7,000 to rescue toddler

The people of Umuowa-Ibu Community in Okigwe, Imo state are
living in fear following incessant kidnappings going on in their community
since 2015. Those who were directly affected have continued to cry for justice
as they live in fear of the unknown. As at last count, no fewer than ten people
including toddlers have been kidnapped without trace. Worse still, members of
the community accused the police of being insensitive to their plight as they
(police) not only made demands before taking action but released suspects
without thorough investigation. One of the victims who spoke to Crime Guard,
Mr. Okorie, 50, said that after his daughter was kidnapped, his wife abandoned
him as a result of the incident, adding that the village became horrible for
the residents. Okorie, a farmer, said that two men came into his house after
forcing the door open, pointed a gun at him and warned him not to shout before
they took away his 1-year-3 months old daughter.

“The most painful experience is that my wife abandoned me
after our daughter was kidnapped. My wife left me since 2016 till date,” he
said. In the same vein, a young man, Mr. Ekele Odoemena, 50, reportedly
disappeared in 2016. His uncle, Mr. Raphael Nwaokorogu, who spoke to Crime
Guard, said that he disappeared after he had an altercation with one Okwudiri.
Lamenting their predicament, Nwaokorogu, said that the residents now sleep with
one eye open adding that the level of insecurity in the community had made them
to feel unsafe. Investigations also revealed that another case of child
kidnapping took place on 14th December, 2017, where Master Chisom Nnadi, 3, was
said to have been kidnapped According to Chisom’s uncle, “We are crying to the
government. Since they have discovered the truth, we want them not to
disappoint us. We want those behind our sorrowful mood to get the deserved
punishment.”

Also angered by the
ugly development, a community leader, Mr Nelson Okoronkwo, did not only
describe it as an annual event but also said that the community had been thrown
into mourning Okoronkwo who had led the villagers in a protest to the Police
Commissioner over what they described as ‘incessant kidnappings’ in the
community said: “It is with hearts full of sorrow and pains that we, the entire
people of Umuowa -Ibu community in Okigwe LGA, wish to bring to your knowledge,
acts of kidnapping of our children, which has become an annual event in our
community.” Recalling his experience when his daughter was kidnapped, Okoronkwo
from Okorodigbo village in Umuowa-Ibu in Okigwe LGA of Imo state stated; “They
kidnapped my daughter in 2016. Some men came into my house while I was sleeping
with my wife. They broke my door and entered my room forcefully. They kidnapped
my little child, Chinenyenwa Okorie. These men came with a gun, picked my
daughter and ran away. We raised alarm and people came out but by then, they
had left with my daughter. “We started searching for them but they had
disappeared with my daughter. This was how I lost my daughter that gave me joy.
We went to the police station in Okigwe and told them that my daughter was
kidnapped. Do you know that my wife accused me of kidnapping my daughter and I
was detained in the police station? I was later released on bail.

As a result of this, my wife abandoned me. She said that my
mother in-law insisted that she would not stay with me again because my village
was a dangerous place and her daughter’s life should not be endangered. “I came
back from the police station and we started searching for my daughter but till
today, we have not found her. I have not seen her whether dead of alive. I
could not recognize the faces of those who kidnapped my daughter because they
covered their faces. They even threatened to shoot me if I opened my mouth to
shout. Since 2016, I have been searching for my daughter. The rumour I heard
was that my daughter was killed but I want to see her corpse so that I will
believe. I cried to my God that those who killed my daughter would be exposed
and that God Almighty should come and fight for me. “I have seen that my God is
gradually exposing them. I pray that all of them will be exposed. They have
caused us pains and they have been putting fears in us. They will not sleep
since they don’t want the entire Umuowa-Ibu community to sleep and have peace.
Another victim, Mr. Raphael Nwaokorogu, 45, narrated also how his younger
brother was kidnapped.

“Ekene Odomena is the name of my younger brother. He
disappeared in 2016. He was 50 and single. We just woke up one morning and
could not find him. One thing I remembered very well was that before he
disappeared, he had a quarrel with one Okwudiri. After that quarrel, Okwudiri
told Ekene, that he was going to deal with him. We did not know that after that
threat by Okwudiri, we would not see Ekene, again. “We are tired of what is
happening to us in this community. We want to ask; does it mean that we do not
have government to stop this oppression of our people? For how long, do we wait
to end this? We are sleeping with our eyes open because of insecurity. They
will come to us and do whatever they feel like doing and go away. What type of
society is this? We are begging the government to help us. The people of Umuowa
-Ibu are crying for help, we can’t move out in the night because of fear. We
need security in our community because tension is everywhere.” A stakeholder in
the community, Mr. Nelson Nwokoro also lamented the plight of his people. “Our
community is in a sorrowful mood. We are crying. We are seriously in tears.
Most times, these evil men would commit crime and after reporting the case to
the police, they would be seen walking freely in our community. You see the
same criminally- minded group of people return from the police station and they
would continue their intimidation.

This happened even after the criminals snatched a one year,
three months baby from her mother in broad daylight and till date, nothing has
been done by the police in the area. The matter was reported and it was treated
with levity. Just like the one that happened last, we went to lodge our
complaint to the police and we were asked to bring seven thousand naira before
we can make an entry. “When this thing became too much, our people entered into
an agreement that anybody who is found culpable will be excommunicated from the
community. We went to the Okigwe police station and presented to them what the
entire community have agreed to do on the issue of kidnapping in the community.
As we were still searching for our missing children, a well known member of the
deadly gang went and arrested the woman whose child was kidnapped. He accused
her of damaging his properties. The whole villagers came out and defended the
woman before she was freed.

“The criminal (name
withheld) did not know that somebody saw him when he was breaking part of his
building just to implicate the woman. We are not happy in this community. We
want the commissioner of police to make sure that these people are taken to
court and we want justice to be done. Three people who were suspected to have
been committing these criminal activities have been arrested by the police.
They are now in police custody. We want the police to conduct a thorough
investigation and they should be punished according to the law.” An uncle to
the missing 3-year old baby, Mr. Chukwuma Obinadi told Crime Guard that “Chisom
is 3 years and 8 months old. He went out on 14th December 2017 and we thought
it was his usual outing and he would come back to the house. We started
searching for him as from 6pm that day but we could not find him. His disappearance
has caused us sleepless nights. We are still crying and we want to see our son.
We want the government to help us wipe our tears.

“Look at the level of pain that human beings like us have
put us into. They are enjoying themselves while we are looking for our
children. This is wickedness. We can’t forget it easily. We have nobody to
fight for us. We believe in God Almighty. He will fight for us and fight all
those people who are suppressing us in this community. We need divine
intervention.” The mother of the missing child also lamented stating that, “We
started searching for Chisom, till today, we can’t see him. I am bleeding. I
can’t imagine that my son is gone. My son did not commit any crime. He did not
quarrel with anybody. I wonder why somebody would choose to take away my child
just like that. When we went to Okigwe police station, they asked to bring
N7,000. We pleaded with the police to take N2000 but they refused. I want to
see my child. I want to carry my child in my arms. I can’t control my tears. Do
you know what it means for a woman to lose her child, especially, when you have
started spending on that child? It is painful.”

By Chinonso Alozie, Owerri

Photo depict

How kidnappers snatched toddler from mother in Imo and police's demand of N7,000 to rescue toddler
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Saturday, March 10, 2018
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